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Job Abandonment

SibylMasquelierSibylMasquelier 1 Post
in HR & Employment Law Vote Up0Vote Down

We are a relatively new company and are in the midst of the fist time an employee did not call in to report an absence.  She was counseled Wednesday evening and Thursday didnt show up to work and her cube was cleaned out.  I told the manager after three days of no call/no show, I'd send a certified letter to her telling her she was terminated due to job abandonment.  Then the management team got involved and asked why 3 days?  They wanted to term after one.  I couldn't really respond because for every company I've worked for it's always been three and I guess I never thought about it. 

Do you have a job abandonment policy and can you provide some insight in to the reasoning behind waiting more than one day?

Thanks much,

Puzzled

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  • 2 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • hr410hr410 61 Posts
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    Hi Sybil:

     I think the one day rule is harsh, and may result in knee-jerk terminations when there is a perfectly viable explanation for the absence. I guess it depends on your corporate philosophy. Keeping a pretty tight reign on absences is smart though.

     Our policy is:

    Any employee who fails to report to work or to report absences for two (2) consecutive work days will be considered a voluntary termination.

    Guidelines:

    1. The supervisor should inform each employee of the call-in procedure and their responsibility to notify the department of absences.
    2. The supervisor will attempt to contact the employee by phone first, and second by registered letter and/or telegram with a return receipt requested, notifying the employee of termination. These steps should be documented for verification purposes.
    3. Extenuating circumstances which make it impossible for the employee to contact the department regarding the absence will be given consideration.
    4. Copies of the termination letter and the returned mail receipt should be forwarded along with the payroll termination form.
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  • BKateBKate 100 Posts
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    To add on, the 3-day rule is also related to unemployment claims. In some states, the presumption after 3 days of no-call, no-show is that the employee resigned and isn't eligible for benefits unless he or she can come up with a really good reason why it was impossible to call in. Having a written policy in place also helps in the unemployment claim situation.
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